The ABCC is pressing ahead with prosecutions against the CFMMEU, three officials and 44 individual workers over alleged industrial action last year on a Perth airport rail link project.
The CFMMEU's construction division says senior NSW officials at the centre of a new ABCC court action have denied alleged threatening conduct, such as warning a crane company to "agree with everything" in a deal as "you don't want your blokes offsite, equipment damaged, cranes wrecked".
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An online campaign backed by the Victorian Trades Hall Council says it has raised $44,000 to pay a personal fine levied against CFMMEU official Joe Myles, while the ABCC has confirmed it started nine investigations into workers who walked off the job to attend the ACTU's "change the rules" rallies last year.
The ABCC is pursuing the CFMMEU and eight organisers for repeatedly refusing to show entry permits at a major Queensland road project on the basis they were responding to safety issues as "concerned citizens, not as union officials".
The construction watchdog is investigating whether Master Builders Tasmania charged induction fees for more than 120 Chinese plasterers in order to work on a major project in Hobart.
A reduction of more than 60% in external legal expenses has steered the construction watchdog into operating profit for the 2017-18 financial year, as it continues a recent shift to initiating fewer court cases at the same time as it has been winning record penalties against the CFMMEU.
ABCC deputy commissioner Cathy Cato, who acted as the watchdog's leader when long-serving head Nigel Hadgkiss left last year, has resigned to take up a senior state public sector job.
In a significant blow to ABCC attempts to rein in the behaviour of union officials by holding them personally liable for breach fines, the Federal Court has today ruled that an offender's past record must be taken into account before imposing such conditions.
